A crossover spawning out of the pages of Scott Snyder's Batman, where the Court of Owls attacks Gotham City aiming to assassinate numerous key figures within the city, forcing all of Gotham's heroes to defend the city from the Court's attacks.

Batman's "Night of the Owls" Crossover Goes to the Old West

Ever since Scott Snyder brought the idea of the Court of Owls to Gotham City, we've been seeing bits about their history. The Court has supposedly existed for over a Century yet Batman was certain there was no truth to that. He discovered their true nature the hard way.

With the upcoming Night of the Owls crossover in all the Bat-Family titles, it's not just today's heroes of Gotham that will be dealing with them. We'll also be seeing the Court's existence going back to the 1880s in the pages of ALL-STAR WESTERN.

Late last week, DC's The Source revealed some of the plans in how Jonah Hex will be dealing with the Court in his time period. ALL-STAR WESTERN co-writer, Justin Gray, said the following:

'Plans within plans.' That’s one of my favorite lines from Frank Herbert’s eco-sci-fi epic, Dune. It is also one of the hardest things to convey in a monthly comic where readers are often second-guessing the outcome or direction of a series. There is always a larger plan at work and things are never quite what they seem. Both Batman and Jonah Hex have been discovering this fact in their own unique ways. Having chosen Gotham City as the unlikely setting for ALL-STAR WESTERN, Jimmy and I thought long and hard about the different ways we could make the book interesting to both new readers and the Jonah Hex faithful. To do that we began our initial arc with the secret society called The Crime Bible trying to establish its roots in 1880’s Gotham. At the same time over in BATMAN, readers were introduced to The Court of Owls.

By now you know both organizations existed long before the caped crusader launched his one-man campaign to save the soul of a city. So starting in May, The Court of Owls, the Talon, the secret history of Gotham, Crime Bible, Jonah Hex and Amadeus Arkham…some of the most unlikely and surprising elements start falling seamlessly in to place. It has been months and months in the making, but the plans within plans are coming to fruition and even the most cynical fan has to admit this New 52 thing is pretty damn exciting.

If seeing the Court back in the 1880s wasn't enough, DC has also shownGreg Capullo's designs for a 'mid-Victorian' era Talon that will be a threat in the pages of BIRDS OF PREY during the crossover.

Capullo commented:

Now I’m thinking Jack the Ripper. Cloaks and lots of layers. A bird’s feathers are all layered. Perfect.

Guess we'll be finding out a little about the Court from the 1840s as well. This appears to be DC's first major crossover since the "New 52" started and it's shaping up to be one of the best we've seen in a while.

More crossovers are coming though for the Month of May from what I know. But yes this is probably the most significant crossover that the New 52 will have for that time. I'm truly fascinated by it now, and absolutely LOVE that cover to All-Star Western!

@ThePRez: Because he is in Gotham at the time the Court of Owls were shaping Gotham.

I am pretty excited for this crossover. Looks like even Jason Todd will be helping to fight against the owls. I guess this is DCs first real cross over event since New 52 launched as it crosses over into any title involving Gotham City and the "Bat family".

Yep, I am definitely pumped for this one too. Batman's comic has been one of the best of all the New 52 titles and expanding on that story into a crossover event can only spell good things for some of the more mediocre books in the line-up.

I guess it's an excuse to have him tied to the rest of the DCU. Some people find it off putting that Hex does not really impact anything except his own little pocket world and I would think DC are using this as a way round that.

Enjoying the whole Court of Owls crossover thing, looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. I'm sure (hoping) some remnant of them will still remain after they are inevitably beaten, so we can see them pop up again from time to time. Interesting villains with potential for future stories.

I've been enjoying this series, and the dynamic duo take with both Hex and Arkham. Cosidering that most of my other titles are falling into the owls crossover I'm actualy going to be looking forward to this as its actualy a plesent suprise that its happening with hex (and then you remeber that since this series has begun Hex has been in Gotham.... and trying to get out as soon as he possibly can).